The #1 New York Times bestseller, and the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Hamilton!Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow presents a landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who galvanized, inspired, scandalized, and shaped the newborn nation.“Grand-scale biography at its best—thorough, insightful, consistently fair, and superbly written . . . A genuinely great … fair, and superbly written . . . A genuinely great book.” —David McCullough
“A robust full-length portrait, in my view the best ever written, of the most brilliant, charismatic and dangerous founder of them all.” —Joseph Ellis
Few figures in American history have been more hotly debated or more grossly misunderstood than Alexander Hamilton. Chernow’s biography gives Hamilton his due and sets the record straight, deftly illustrating that the political and economic greatness of today’s America is the result of Hamilton’s countless sacrifices to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time. “To repudiate his legacy,” Chernow writes, “is, in many ways, to repudiate the modern world.” Chernow here recounts Hamilton’s turbulent life: an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, he came out of nowhere to take America by storm, rising to become George Washington’s aide-de-camp in the Continental Army, coauthoring The Federalist Papers, founding the Bank of New York, leading the Federalist Party, and becoming the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power. His is a Hamilton far more human than we’ve encountered before—from his shame about his birth to his fiery aspirations, from his intimate relationships with childhood friends to his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Monroe, and Burr, and from his highly public affair with Maria Reynolds to his loving marriage to his loyal wife Eliza. And never before has there been a more vivid account of Hamilton’s famous and mysterious death in a duel with Aaron Burr in July of 1804.
Chernow’s biography is not just a portrait of Hamilton, but the story of America’s birth seen through its most central figure. At a critical time to look back to our roots, Alexander Hamilton will remind readers of the purpose of our institutions and our heritage as Americans.
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Wonderful, well written, biography of Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton – is there much I need to say about this man that you don’t already know? Thanks to the musical “Hamilton” – a large part of the world is more familiar with him than ever. But in case you aren’t – here is a quick recap: Orphaned boy whose mother was from Nevis and father who was Scottish. He was brought to America by a cousin and eventually ended up with a merchant family. He was known as an intellect from an early age. He studied at Kings College (which is now Columbia) and became a lawyer. He married Eliza Schulyer and they had 8 children. He worked very closely with George Washington, and fought on the front lines of the battle with Britian. He wrote the federalist papers. He cheated on his wife. His eldest son died in a duel. And then Alexander died in a duel with Andrew Burr at the age of 49.
That about sums him up. Just kidding. That barely scratches the surface, so you should read the book. All 900 pages of it. The author very much idolizes Hamilton, and paints just about every other founding father as people who did everything wrong. Hamilton was no saint. He was brilliant – no doubt – but no saint. He was hot tempered and a womanizer. He spent long amounts of time away from his wife and children chasing battles and defending his Federalist papers. You do wonder – had he lived – what else he might have accomplished.
It is going to be winter soon. If you are like us and need to hunker down to get through the cold, wet, snow driven months, then this would be a good book to pass your time.
Well researched, so long I almost gave up by the time the duel was to happen. Important to read if you want a fair minded view of the work of Lin-Manuel Mirada’s Work in Hamilton, the Musical. Worth the slog thru an important period in US history.
It’s nonfiction, a thorough and fascinating view of Hamilton, his origins, his motives, and the people and the times when he was a vital part of the beginning American venture.
must read
A bit drawn out and detailed but gripping nevertheless.
Though a long book it was a very informative and interesting story of an extradinary man
You learn so much about early government from this book.
It was excellent book. You learned about politics at the time of the American Revolution and how some of the “founding” fathers stabbed others in the back. Politics do not change.
A tremendous portrayal of one of the least appreciated and most important of our founding fathers.
Hamilton not one of my favorite founding father, but nonetheless this was good entertaining read, great info on a flawed man.
I am a political historian and a history educator. I highly recommend this to readers who want to know about our Founders. And especially those who want to know what inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to write the Tony Award winning Broadway play.
This book helped me put into perspective the facts I learned in Social Studies when I was in middle school. I learned more than I thought I would about the infancy of our nation and the people who started it all. Chernow brought all the characters to life. It was daunting at times but well worth the effort.
I wanted to know more about Hamilton, due to the Broadway show. Chernow’s biographies are wonderful. I had no idea Hamilton came from humble beginnings and worked his way to the top of our American political systems. The founding fathers were elitists, well-educated property owners, who had the best interests of the nation at heart. Hamilton was brilliant and served not only General Washington during the Revolutionary War, but also as the first Secretary of the Treasury. The systems he invented for solving the nation’s financial crisis are still in use today.
A brave new look at an important historical figure who often gets overlooked because of the efforts of rivals who survived him. History contains so much wisdom for those willing to search about for it.
Enjoyed the book. Learned a lot about the man and his ego, which led to his untimely death in a duel with Aaron Burr.
History brought forth for a clearer understanding and awareness. Much more informative and better than school book lessons.
Chernow is a wonderful historian. I love American history, and added this book to my collection several years ago. This book was informative, very readable and brought the period and the characters to life for me.
Well written.
Great book.